1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for forming an image on a recording paper sheet in accordance with a dot (pixel) matrix of recording dots of a thermal printer, an ink jet printer or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A recording apparatus has been recently proposed wherein recording means are arranged in a matrix so as to achieve high-speed recording when high speed recording by individual recording means cannot be performed in a recording system such as an ink jet on-demand recording system.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a recording head unit 1 of a multicolor ink jet recording apparatus of this type. Recording heads 2Y, 2M, 2C and 2BK for respectively injecting yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks are arranged along a main scanning direction (indicated by arrow X) in the recording head unit 1. Each recording head has three nozzles disposed along a subscanning direction (indicated by arrow Y) thereof. The recoreding heas unit 1 which thus comprises a three-row x four-column matrix is moved along the direction indicated by X so as to perform main scanning and, at the same time, subscanning with a predetermined jump, thereby forming a multicolor image on the recording paper sheet.
However, in a recording apparatus for forming a multicolor image by injecting different color inks from a plurality of recording heads at a single position on the recording paper sheet, smearing occurs at the single position when an ink is injected before the previously injected ink is completely dried, resulting in degradation of image quality. In order to eliminate this drawback, an interval between two adjacent recording heads must be sufficiently wide. However, the interval often cannot be wide enough due to limitations on the arrangement of the recording head unit. As a result, the advantages of a dot matrix arrangement, such as high-speed recording and high-resolution recording, cannot be sufficiently realized in the multicolor recording apparatus.